The field of the present invention, in general, relates to liquid dispensing apparatus and in particular relates to an apparatus which includes a pouring spout and carbonation retention capability wherein an operator can by movement of a lever introduce a variable or fixed amount of gas into a liquid which is then dispensed in a variable or fixed portion.
There was a time in the beverage industry when beverages were stored in eight or twelve ounce bottles and then capped with metal caps for sale to the customer. In these instances, the customer would open the bottle and dispense either all or a portion of the beverage, usually a soft drink, from the bottle. Cap designs for these bottles were extremely limited, and once the cap had been removed it was impractical or impossible to recap the bottle and thus maintain the partial-pressure of the gas in the gas-containing liquid, which is typically a carbonated liquid such as a soft drink. Further developments were made in terms of providing caps for these open bottles. A cap was designed which would replace the original cap on the bottle and would serve the purpose of maintaining the partial pressure of the gas in the carbonated liquid. However, it is known that when using these cap designs, the partial pressure of the gas within the carbonated liquid would eventually decrease and the soft drink would become "flat".
Because of the popularity of soft drinks, manufacturers have commonly sought to design and implement larger containers to store more of the soft drink. These larger containers have certain advantages and numerous disadvantages. For example, a common advantage of these containers is that more liquid can be packaged in one container thereby reducing the cost of the container and also reducing the cost of manufacturing the container. Moreover, due to environmental considerations it is desirable to have fewer but larger containers, i.e. less possibility for litter.
However, as mentioned previously, there are some severe disadvantages associated with the use of large containers. One of the primary disadvantages of a large container is that once the large container is opened, the partial pressure of the gas, normally carbon dioxide, in the liquid is reduced to a level where the carbonated liquid becomes "flat". Again, various cap designs have been developed for the purpose of retaining the carbonation in the liquid. However, these cap designs suffer from the same drawbacks as prior cap designs and eventually the carbonated liquid becomes "flat".
There have also been attempts to design equipment useful for recarbonating liquids, wherein an impeller type device is designed to be inserted into the container to stir a liquid while simultaneously introducing gas into the liquid for the purpose of recarbonating the liquid. However, due to the expense of these apparatus they have not yet achieved any commercial significance.
With the increasing cost of carbonated liquids, such as soft drinks, it is desirable to provide a system for maintaining the carbonation of the soft drink for use over extended periods of time. In this manner, substantially less waste occurs and the carbonated liquid or soft drink maintains its fresh and acceptable taste for a longer period of time.